1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to headwear pieces of the type having a crown with an opening to allow a wearer's hair to pass therethrough.
2. Background Art
The use of casual headwear continues to increase in many different environments and amongst a wider range of age groups. Headwear purveyors constantly seek out different headwear designs to meet consumer demands in terms of both aesthetics and function. One popular headwear design is the baseball-style cap. The baseball-style cap has an inverted, cup-shaped crown with a bottom rim surface that surrounds and embraces the head of a wearer. The crown has a peripheral wall with a forward wall portion that typically bears logos, ornamentation, etc. A brim/bill projects forwardly from the front wall portion and provides a shield against sun exposure, rain, snow, etc. at the wearer's face.
The baseball-style cap is commonly made with a size adjustment capability. Typically, the rear portion of the cap has elastic and/or a strap which can be reconfigured to vary the effective diameter of the inside surface of the bottom rim that engages the wearer's head. In one form, an inverted, U-shaped opening is provided at the rear of the crown to allow diameter reduction without bunching of the crown material in the region thereadjacent. The means by which this diameter adjustment is accomplished vary widely. As one example, joinable strap portions are commonly utilized which can be mated in different manners to select a combined length which is associated with a particular crown diameter. The connection of the strap parts may be accomplished through the use of mating, Velcro®-type fastener parts, cooperating studs and receptacles, snaps, buckles, etc.
Baseball-style caps are frequently worn by men and women with long hair. A wearer with long hair has different options as to how the baseball-style cap may be worn. As one option, the wearer's hair can be accumulated and tucked into the top of the crown. This may not be practical depending upon the length of the hair. As another option, the hair may be accumulated at the rear of the wearer's head and projected outwardly at the rear of the headwear piece between the rim and the wearer's head. This may lead to a localized pressure application on the wearer's head in the vicinity of where the hair is accumulated.
The latter problem lead to the design, by the assignee hereof, of a headwear piece with a crown opening situated to allow an accumulation of the wearer's hair to be directed outwardly through the crown opening so that the fit of the headwear piece is essentially unaffected by the mass of hair. This design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,854. With this design, the front of the headwear piece retains the appearance of a conventional baseball-style cap and at the same time conveniently accommodates a wearer's hair, regardless of its length.
With the design as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,854, the headwear piece may either be a single size or an adjustable size design. In the former case, the crown material can extend continuously around the crown opening as one piece. Alternatively, the aforementioned arrangement of adjusting straps can be utilized and maintained together with cooperating Velcro®-type fasteners, studs, snaps, buckles, etc. Depending upon its nature, the adjusting structure on the straps may cause an inconvenience to the wearer with long hair. The problem may arise in the event that the adjustment is attempted with the headwear piece in a preliminary wearing position. With the hair accumulated and directed through the crown opening, the strap parts can be joined to select the desired effective cap diameter that is comfortable to the wearer. However, the wearer's hair may find its way between the strap parts and potentially become snagged, as on the Velcro®-type fastener parts, between the snaps, studs, buckle etc. This problem is actually contended with with all adjustable size, baseball-style caps, regardless of the length of the wearer's hair.
One existing headwear piece design that avoids the above problem is commonly sold in a visor configuration that is “clipped on”the wearer's head. These visors incorporate a U-shaped element which is oriented to open rearwardly with respect to the wearer's head and to embrace the wearer's head. This design offers the wearer the convenience of initially simply spreading the legs of the U-shaped element sufficiently to introduce the head therebetween and thereafter releasing the legs so that they spring back and firmly embrace the wearer's head. This visor configuration is designed to accommodate potentially a significant range of head sizes.
While the above visor design has been popular, it offers a uniquely different appearance than the baseball-style cap. The visor typically has a crown segment with a front wall portion that projects upwardly to a free edge. The front wall typically does not have a significant vertical extent. With the above design, the crown segment tends not to maintain a predetermined shape and is prone to irregular folding or bunching up at the front of the visor.
The visor design, described above, has a number of other drawbacks compared with a baseball-style cap. As noted above, whereas the visor may have a relatively random appearance as viewed from the front thereof, the crown of the baseball-style cap has a consistent, identifiable shape, consisting of a sizable front wall projecting upwardly and angularly rearwardly. The shape of this front wall is maintained by the continuation of the front wall to the side walls, which in turn are contiguous with a top wall portion so that the shape of the front region of the baseball-style cap is consistently predetermined, albeit reshapable.
Another drawback with the visor is that it does not offer a surface area of consistent size and shape to allow the placement of certain informational material and decoration. Baseball caps on the other hand afford a relatively large, forwardly facing surface to accommodate the placement of information, such as team logos, ornamentation, etc.
Still further, the above visor design does not provide any significant shielding to the wearer's head beyond the brim/bill. Thus, the only significant shielding effect is that which is afforded by the brim/bill.